and that the Union has asked the Mediation Council to intervene. Hellings pointed out that the negotiations have been going on for months but that they have not yielded any results. “We handed in our wish list in March but management commenced with the negotiations three months later. Later we realized that management did not keep its word,” said Hellings. The situation escalated when management gave a raise in September while the negotiations that are aimed at reaching a new collective labor agreement were still going on. Management evidently did not discuss this with the union. “It was clearly aimed at undermining the union. We protested against it but they went ahead and did it anyway,” said Hellings who added that these past few weeks the negotiations were deadlocked. “They keep presenting new exceptions which is why we cannot reach a new collective labor agreement. In the past two weeks management did not even show up at the negotiating table. That was the final straw,” said Hellings who added that the union therefore de idee to formally put the negotiations on hold and to ask the Mediation Council to bring both parties together.